After trailing 35-30 at halftime and falling behind by nine (41-32) early in the final stanza, the Blueboys (4-1, 1-1) went on an 11-0 run and took their first lead of the contest at 43-41 when freshman Mark Gillingham hit a 3-pointer at the 14:57 mark. A pair of free throws by Tom Katzfey enabled the Green Knights (1-3, 0-2) to retake the lead at 53-52 with just under 10 minutes remaining, but a 3-pointer by the Blueboys’ Mitch Hurliman put the hosts back in front at 54-53 with 8:58 to go, and they never relinquished the lead.
St. Norbert’s Ryan Lallensack hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining that cut Illinois College’s lead to one at 66-65, but a pair of free throws by Gillingham, along with another charity by Geoff Owens in the final seconds secured the victory.
Gillingham scored a game-high 16 points and teammates Joe Womble and Brendan Bachman added 15 and 10, respectively. Nathan Zepnick paced the Green Knights with 14 while Katzfey scored 12 and John Suberlak added 11.
After shooting just 37 percent in the opening half, Illinois College hit 65 percent of its shots to finish with a mark of 49 percent (24-49). The visitors converted 55 percent in the first stanza but finished with a 45 percent mark (27-59) for the contest. St. Norbert’s Ryan Lallensack had a game-high eight rebounds as the visitors posted a 37-31 edge on the boards. Womble, Gillingham and Mitchell Neally each had five boards for the hosts.
The well-played contest produced just 22 turnovers, with Illinois College losing the ball just nine times.